NITI Aayog Writes to Centre, States to Use AI to Solve Problems

By adopting AI, an incremental US$ 957 billion could be added to India’s GDP by 2035, improving the country’s yearly growth by 1.3 percentage points

NITI Aayog, the government think tank, has asked central ministries as well as states to identify major projects where artificial intelligence (AI) could be adopted for resolving problems in various fields such as education, health and agriculture.

AI has the potential to add around US$ 15.7 trillion to the global gross domestic product (GDP) by the year 2030, making it the largest commercial opportunity in the fast-changing economy, according to NITI Aayog.

By adopting AI, an incremental US$ 957 billion could be added to India’s GDP by 2035, improving the country’s yearly growth by 1.3 percentage points by that year.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, in a letter to the central ministries and states, said, “I write to request you to identify key projects where AI can be developed to solve problems affecting the health sector that you wish to drive forward.”

“Niti Aayog has a team that works on the AI programme and I would like to extend all help in providing necessary support, connecting to the concerned stakeholders and any other matter that may be required,” he added.

Focus on AI

In his Budget 2018-19 speech, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had delegated the responsibility on NITI Aayog to develop the National Programme for AI.

In June last year, the government think tank released the National Strategy for AI, which is focused at placing India as a leader among emerging economies. The strategy endeavours to leverage the AI for social development, economic growth and inclusive growth.

To promote the AI adoption, it identified five key sectors for a more focused involvement of the government. These key sectors are healthcare, education, agriculture, smart-mobility and transportation and smart cities and infrastructure.